![]() ![]() The team maintains 1,400 snake traps in airports and other targeted sites around the island. Pitzler leads a team of federal, state, military and private individuals struggling to keep snakes from leaving Guam aboard outgoing flights and ships. "Never in history has a snake done as much ecological damage as this snake," says Mike Pitzler, a biologist with the U.S. But the brown tree snake threat is different. The state imposes fines as high as $25,000 for importing or owning snakes of any type-a penalty that has not stopped people from smuggling in pythons and other snakes for pets. ![]() All were captured or dead upon discovery, but some other reported snake sightings have not been resolved and authorities worry whether they can effectively stop the reptile from slithering into the state.Īs home to 41 percent of all endangered birds in the nation, Hawaii has a lot to lose. Since 1981, seven brown tree snakes have been found in Hawaii. When it selects an airplane wheel well or outgoing cargo as its hiding place, the reptile can hitchhike to new habitats. According to authorities at Guam´s electric companies, the climbing snakes frequently short out power lines, causing an average of one electric outage every three days.īecause the brown tree snake is light sensitive, it coils into concealed hiding places by day. But it has caused other problems for people. To date, the reptile has not caused any human fatalities. Guam´s public health records indicate that 74 toddlers were treated for snake bites between 19. On Guam, it has snatched chickens and pets from yards and has even attacked babies asleep in cribs. It is a voracious nocturnal hunter that kills by constricting its prey with a mild venom injected with its back teeth. Known for its bulging eyes and large head, an adult brown tree snake averages four to seven feet in length. Biologists believe that most or all of these snakes originated on Guam. Sightings of the reptiles have been reported in Okinawa, Wake Island, the Marshall Islands, Tinian, Rota, Diego Garcia, Texas and Spain. Geological Survey who has been studying the species since 1984. "The brown tree snake is capable of adapting to many tropical areas," says Thomas Fritts, a biologist with the U.S. Another imperiled creature, the Marianas fruit bat, is also close to extinction because of snake predation. It has decimated 9 of Guam´s 12 native forest birds, pushing 3 species into extinction. Some areas of Guam are now infested with as many as 12,000 brown tree snakes per square mile and bird life of any kind is rare on the Pacific island.Īn extraordinary climber, the snake devours eggs, hatchlings and adult birds. Free of the natural controls of their native habitat and finding abundant prey for every stage of their lives, the snakes multiplied at an astonishing rate. The cause of a devastating ecological catastrophe on the island of Guam, it is considered one of the most frightening alien species threatening Hawaii today.īiologists believe the first brown tree snakes arrived in Guam after World War II as stowaways on cargo ships from one of their homelands: northern Australia, Indonesia, New Guinea or the Solomon Islands. Kraus is particularly concerned about the threat of an infestation by Boiga irregularis, the brown tree snake. Given the Aloha State´s subtropical climate and lack of predators, some of the world´s most venomous snakes could easily become established there. So any sighting suggests frightening possibilities. ![]() But in Hawaii-except for the harmless, earthwormlike Brahminy blind snake, which was introduced to the state from Asia-there are no terrestrial snakes. Throughout much of the United States, such a snake sighting would attract little attention. ![]() The brown-colored snake climbed a tree until it was level with the eyes of the boy, who turned and ran. Possibilities: waist-high grass, tangled brush, rodent burrows, illegally dumped trash, even clumps of houseplants growing wild.Īs the alien species coordinator for Hawaii´s Department of Land and Natural Resources, Kraus is investigating a report of a snake seen by a boy playing in these woods. In the middle of a Honolulu suburb, this wooded ravine offers unlimited "You have to think like a snake," he says, while considering places where a reptile might hide. A state without snakes keeps a wary eye out for an alien invaderįred Kraus lifts a piece of corrugated metal, inspecting the ground beneath it. ![]()
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